socio economic and caste census

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RGESS (Rajiv Gandhi Equity Saving Scheme)

The Rajiv Gandhi Equity Saving Scheme (RGESS) will give tax benefits to new investors whose annual income is up to Rs 10 lakh for investments up to a maximum of Rs 50,000. The investor will get 50 per cent deduction of the amount invested from taxable income for that year. Salient features of the scheme are as follows:

 The scheme is open to new retail investors identified on the basis of their permanent account numbers (PAN).

 The tax deduction allowed will be over and above the ` 1 lakh limit permitted allowed under Section 80 C of the Income
Tax Act.

 In addition to the 50 per cent tax deduction for investments, dividend income is also tax free.

 For investments up to Rs 50,000 in the sole RGESS demat account, if the investor opts for a basic service demat account, annual maintenance charges for the demat account are zero and for investments up to Rs 2 lakh, Rs 100.

 Stocks listed under BSE 100 or CNX 100, or stocks of public-sector undertakings (PSUs) that are Navratnas, Maharatnas, and Miniratnas will be eligible under the scheme. Follow-on public offers (FPOs) of these companies will also be eligible.

 IPOs of PSUs, which are scheduled to get listed in the relevant financial year and whose annual turnover is not less than Rs 4,000 crore for each of the immediate past three years, will also be eligible.

 Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and MFs that have RGESS-eligible securities as their underlying and are listed and traded in the stock exchanges and settled through a depository mechanism have also been brought under the RGESS to provide the advantage of diversification and consequent risk minimization.

 To benefit the small investors, investments are allowed in instalments in the year in which tax claims are made.

 The total lock-in period for investments will be three years including an initial blanket lock-in of one year.

 After the first year, investors will be allowed to trade in the securities. Investors are free to trade / churn their portfolios for around 90 days in each of the years following the first year of investment.

 Investors would, however, be required to maintain their level of investment during these two years at the amount for which they have claimed income tax benefit or at the value of the portfolio before initiating a sale transaction, whichever is less, for at least 270 days in a year.

 The general principle under which trading is allowed is that whatever is the value of stocks / units sold by the investor from the RGESS portfolio, RGESS-compliant securities of at least the same value are credited back into the account subsequently. However, the investor is allowed to take benefit of the appreciation of his RGESS portfolio, provided its value remains above the investment for which he has claimed income tax benefit.

 In case the investor fails to meet the conditions stipulated, the tax benefit will be withdrawn.
The broad provisions of the Scheme and the income tax benefits under it have already been incorporated as a new Section- 80CCG- of the Income Tax Act 1961, as amended by the Finance Act 2012. The operational guidelines were issued by SEBI on 6 December 2012.

IAS 2013 CSAT (Prelimns) syllabus

IAS 2013 CSAT (Prelimns) syllabus

The Examination shall comprise two compulsory papers of 200 marks each.

Paper I - (200 marks) Duration : Two hours

Current events of national and international importance.

History of India and Indian National Movement.

Indian and World Geography - Physical, Social, Economic Geography of India and the World.

Indian Polity and Governance - Constitution, Political System, Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, Rights

Issues, etc.

Economic and Social Development Sustainable Development, Poverty, Inclusion, Demographics,

Social Sector initiatives, etc.

General issues on Environmental Ecology, Bio-diversity and Climate Change - that do not require

subject specialization.

General Science.

Paper II- (200 marks) Duration: Two hours

Comprehension

Interpersonal skills including communication skills;

Logical reasoning and analytical ability

Decision-making and problem-solving

General mental ability

Basic numeracy (numbers and their relations, orders of magnitude, etc.) (Class X level), Data

interpretation (charts, graphs, tables, data sufficiency etc. - Class X level)

English Language Comprehension skills (Class X level).

Note 1 : Questions relating to English Language Comprehension skills of Class X level (last item in the Syllabus

of PaperII) will be tested through passages from English language only without providing Hindi translation

thereof in the question paper.

Note 2 : The questions will be of multiple choice, objective type.

The main Examination is intended to assess the overall intellectual traits and depth of understanding

of candidates rather than merely the range of their information and memory.

The nature and standard of questions in the General Studies papers (Paper II to Paper V) will be

such that a well-educated person will be able to answer them without any specialized study. The questions

will be such as to test a candidate’s general awareness of a variety of subjects, which will have relevance for

a career in Civil Services. The questions are likely to test the candidate’s basic understanding of all relevant

issues, and ability to analyze, and take a view on conflicting socio- economic goals, objectives and demands.

The candidates must give relevant, meaningful and succinct answers.

The scope of the syllabus for optional subject papers (Paper VI and Paper VII) for the examination is

broadly of the honours degree level i.e. a level higher than the bachelors’ degree and lower than the masters’

degree. In the case of Engineering, Medical Science and law, the level corresponds to the bachelors’

degree.